MUTTIAH Muralitharan is back in Manchester, glad to be bowling again after a long injury lay-off but even more grateful just to be alive.

The Sri Lankan spinner missed the tsunami by a whisker as he drove along the island's west coast on that terrible day last December.

Murali, back with Lancashire this season for a third spell, is still coming to terms with the devastation that the giant wave caused to his country. Since then he has combined his bid to recover from a second shoulder operation with relief work, setting up a fund with Sri Lankan team-mate Chaminda Vaas.

"We went everywhere to see what we could do," he said.

"The damage was terrible so we decided to set up a house-building operation and have already built 25 houses in Galle. The plan is to build 250 there with another 115 on the east coast."

Murali has played in a number of fund-raising internationals recently but that's all the cricketing action he has had for eight months.

No wonder he was keen to start bowling in the Old Trafford nets yesterday, only 24 hours after flying in from Sri Lanka.

It was spitting with rain, a cold wind howled, and most of the Lancashire squad kept their weatherproof gear zipped up. Murali, however, discarded his jacket and began bowling in a Sri Lankan team shirt.

After a 20-minute session it was time for a bit of physio on the shoulder. "There is still some soreness but it was good just to get into the nets and have a bowl," he said.

"Apart from the charity games I haven't really bowled for eight months and I don't think I'll be ready for Lancashire's first match next week, although with five or six days to practise I'm still hoping.

"If I miss the first game, I'll be ready for the second and I'll be doing everything I can to make my time here a success."

Anything close to his efforts in 1999 and 2001 will do fine for Lancashire fans.

In those two stints he claimed a record-breaking 116 wickets in 14 championship matches and that total was achieved without even having the chance to bowl in one of those games. Again he can only spend half the summer at Old Trafford, but that should be enough to set Lancashire on the road to promotion.

"I think I will play eight or nine games and all I can promise is that I will bowl as well as I can," he said. "At least it won't take me any time to settle in.

"Although the team has changed a lot since I was last here, I know all the more experienced players.

"And it's great to be back in Manchester, apart from the weather."

Murali is anxious to prove that his shoulder problem hasn't affected his wicket-taking ability but even he conceded that he won't be free of those nagging doubts until he gets back into action.

"It is my first major injury," he said, "I've never been out for so long. I'm 32 and it makes you wonder how many years you can go on for. But as long as I'm bowling well, I will keep playing and playing."

Murali got a warm welcome at Old Trafford where his bright, bubbly character has won lots of friends off the pitch as well as on in previous visits.

Captain Mark Chilton said: "He has a great personality as well as being a great player."

Opposing batsmen won't be looking forward to meeting him quite as much, especially when he activates the doosra delivery which he has used to stunning effect for Sri Lanka.

With his action cleared by the cricket authorities, and with the strength building up in his shoulder, Murali is set to light up championship cricket once more.